Mexican civil organizations called on the Government of Mexico on Tuesday to guarantee fair trade and free of exploitation, in addition to strengthening labor mechanisms, in the next review of the USMCA, scheduled for 2026.
The NGOs, grouped in the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Labor Human Rights, presented a series of technical recommendations to the Government to strengthen the implementation of the labor chapter of the TMEC.
Among the proposals, it is proposed to reform the mechanism for prohibiting imports of goods produced with forced labor (article 23.6 of the treaty), to “guarantee greater transparency, access and participation of workers and civil society,” they stated in a statement.
It is also proposed to improve the operation of the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM), a procedure established in the USMCA to ensure labor rights, mainly freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Recommendations include creating a public database of MRR complaints and resolutions, establishing safe channels for reporting retaliation, and adjusting evidentiary requirements and publishing a registry of companies subject to forced labor restrictions.
In the document of observations and proposals to the Government, “two new areas of opportunity to be integrated into Chapter 23” of the USMCA are also noted: the protection of migrant workers under the H-2 visa system and the prevention of violence and harassment at work, in accordance with Convention 190 of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
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USMCA proposals should not ‘remain on paper’
In parallel, the Coalition against Forced Labor in Commerce (CAFLT) sent a letter to the Secretaries of Labor and Economy to urge the strengthening of “inter-institutional coordination and trilateral cooperation to eliminate forced labor from North American supply chains.”
On October 29, Mexico modified its rules on forced labor, resulting from a demand from the Empower organization, which led to reopening a case on imports from China, setting “a historical precedent to make Article 23.6 of the USMCA more operational,” the NGOs recapitulated.
Guillermo Torres, coordinator of Transnational Justice at the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDESC), stressed that “the USMCA should not remain on paper.”
“It has to be translated into effective tools to eradicate forced labor and protect the rights of those who support global production chains,” said Torres.
The review of the USMCA is scheduled for 2026 after being announced at the beginning of 2025, in the midst of the global tariff war unleashed by the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
The agreement was signed in 2018 during Trump’s first term and implemented on July 1, 2020 to replace the previous North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
With information from EFE
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